Numbers have gradually diminished over the last couple of years, so I'm entertaining ideas for alternative formats for the Ames Tuesday league.

The current format:

- 14 weeks of 1 round stroke play singles
- Points are given based on the number of people you beat within your division.
- End of season top 3 points totals get a trophy disc
- Drop-in fee is $3 (+$1 "vesting" ace fund).
- There is a season rate that cuts about 3 weeks off the total cost.
- Weekly ancillary contest (CTP, long putt, etc...) that pays a disc to each division

I've heard suggestions for doubles. I think a "payout" of some sort for the low score each week should be rewarded. Maybe we make it a mini-tournament series? There're any number of ways we can shake things up.

This was my first full year playing this league and I thought it was great. I'm not sure what could be done in order to make it any better, but sometimes I just like different.
I absolutely love Gateway Hills, but the number of students that are out playing during the league season is hard to deal with. They have no courtesy and the pace is amazingly slow. It is always much easier to get rounds in at ISU.
I would invite the idea of going out of town 1 night per month.(Boone , Madrid, Big Creek, Skankeny). Hell, I wouldn't even mind going to Huxley,Story City, Nevada or Maxwell.
If it is numbers that you want, then you need to take this to the University and post it! The numbers they get for intramural league is ridiculous. If all the city wants to do is put it in their little summer activity booklet, then they shouldn't bitch about low participation. Are they making you responsible for the outcome of their league Steve? I will do anything I can to help. Just ask.

C'mon man!! You've won this thing every year right? Isn't that enough, or do you really need to be paid every week for going low?

I actually think that idea(weekly payout) will bring some more guys out. I like the idea of prepaying for the entire year, so I hope that doesn't go away. Again, if there is anything I can do to help, let me know.

20 years or so ago we had a handicapped team league based out of madrid. We had three to a team with an alternate. Each team was named after a popular disc of the time. Every week Mr. Jeff Adams would figure up the handicaps for each team. So you're trying to be the top seed on your team to play the top seed from the other team. At the end of the year we scheduled a round robin tournament similar to the ncca basketball tournament End results ,Madrid beats Des moines based on handicaps . Des Moines gets mad and drops out of the league. Most fun i think i've ever had playing golf

Guys, I hope that you don't mind a few suggestions from someone who used to be a long time Ames resident but now lives in Colorado Springs, CO.

Right now we are actually running two different leagues at two different courses. Of course our weather here in Colorado can be quite warm in winter time so that allows us to keep playing all year round. One league is on Saturday morning at 11 AM at one course. Random draw doubles with a $5 buy in and a buck for ace pool. The second league is at a different course on Sunday morning at 11 AM and is the same format. I run the Sunday league. Last Sunday we had 20 people show up. I paid out to third place with that many people showing up.

Starting in early March (as soon as the time changes) we start up a couple more leagues. One is on Wednesday night and alternates between singles play and doubles play each week. There is also the possibility of having a safari doubles once a month (we didn't do that last year but did the year before). Last year the Wednesday league also moved from course to course each month. The other league is a random draw doubles league every Thursday. It is always held at the same course. All leagues are $5 buy in and a buck if you want to get into the ace pool. In March we start at 5:15 PM and then gradually move the starting time back to 5:45 as days get longer. When we get to August we start moving the starting time earlier until the first week in October when league starts at 4:45 PM. That is usually the last week of league for us. Of course as you move the starting time earlier you generally get less players but the tradeoff is that you can continue playing until the first week of October.

Also last year we had a guy who wanted to run a Monday night singles league. Same thing, $5 buy in and a buck for ace pool. Also club tags get played for on the singles nights. For singles format we generally have an A pool and a B pool. Anyone who wins B pool 3 times must move up to A pool.

I just thought that I would share with you guys what seems to work here in Colorado Springs. YMMV. We do have quite a few league nights (and days) here. That does take people who are willing to commit to running those leagues as well.

I believe that the city mandates the cost of play. However, I do like the idea of a tag system being put into place. May add a little bit more spice to the usually bland round. Of course that is only if I'm not playing with K. It's always fun to watch someone go double digits low every time they play.

Not sure how they would react to us playing out-of-town, but if all they want is their money it should be fine.

Our tags now cost $20 per year and some of that money gets used for payouts for mini-tournaments during the year. Also some money gets used for course improvements. The only issue that comes up on a regular basis is making sure that the tags stay in play. That is they should have to be played for within a certain amount of time (say every two weeks). That is hard to control in any meaningful way. The #1 through #10 tags are square while the rest are round. At the beginning of the year there is a mini-tournament where new tags are given out based on the finish in the mini-tournament. However, some have suggested that the distribution should be based on year long performance instead of a single event. Something to think about.

1semenking wrote:I believe that the city mandates the cost of play. However, I do like the idea of a tag system being put into place. May add a little bit more spice to the usually bland round. Of course that is only if I'm not playing with K. It's always fun to watch someone go double digits low every time they play.

I had a meeting with Ames P&R and we came up with some changes for the upcoming season. The idea is to attract more participation, and in Ames you need to skew "recreational" to get more players. The major points that will likely come to fruition:

- Only two divisions: Competitive and Recreational. We had basically only two divisions anyway, since nobody was playing the other ones offered.

- The recreational division might have a cheaper fee, with more modest prizes.

- Offering a bigger discount on the season fee.

- We will have a doubles component, similar to the DSM league, except that we'll probably rotate through different formats (scramble, alternate shot, worst shot, etc...) to keep things interesting.

- We'll probably have other interesting format alternatives, like a one-disc challenge night for example.

- The legal dept. frowned at the idea of traveling to other courses, so we're staying at CM and ISU.

- We don't have the option of paying out money, just merch. However, the ace fund is OK, so we'll keep doing that.

- We will have the same number of weeks (14) in the season, but we're planning a pre-season outing to drum up interest and get people signed up, hopefully for the season rate.

I would avoid doing any "worst shot" doubles if you do random draw. It just leads to people getting pissed off when they get paired up with a partner who throws every single shot OB. Also, it happened to me that a 250 foot blind shot didn't count simply because the rules state that both partners must make the shot. In other words, made baskets don't count. It really messes things up and there is no need to include a format where putting your best effort forward is penalized. If you state that all made baskets count it is better, but it is still a reverse handicap of sorts. In random draw best shot a good player can "carry" a player who is not as good while in worst shot a lesser player will just drag down a good player since their shots will generally not count. Please avoid this format.

There is one format that is a decent alternative (I believe that it is called Greenwood). Both players tee off and then after that you choose which disc to play from and go alternate shot.

It is definitely a good idea to have two divisions for singles play.

Last edited by coonmanx on Thu Dec 20, 2012 8:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.